1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to patient support systems and more particularly pertains to a new patient support system for holding the torso and head of a user upright when sitting in a wheel chair or a chair to prevent the user from falling off of the wheel chair or chair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of patient support systems is known in the prior art. More specifically, patient support systems heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U. S. Pat. No. 2,851,033; U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,311; U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,487; U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,404; U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,844; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 323,909.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new patient support system. The inventive device includes a vest harness designed for wear on the torso of a patient user. The vest harness has a neck opening, a pair of shoulder straps, a pair of side regions and a lower edge defining a lower opening. The vest harness has breaks through each of the shoulder straps and slits through each of the side regions of vest harness to define separable front and back portions of the vest harness. The front and back portions are detachably coupled together at the breaks of each of the shoulder straps and along the slits of each of the side regions. A chair structure is provided having a backrest and a seat. The back portion of the vest harness is detachably attachable to the backrest of the chair structure to help hold a patient user upright in the chair structure.
In these respects, the patient support system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of holding the torso and head of a user upright when sitting in a wheel chair or a chair to prevent the user from falling off of the wheel chair or chair.